This Conscience Thing (http://spectator.org/archives/2012/01/30/this-conscience-thing)
Catholic leaders object to an Obama administration rule on contraceptive coverage, but will Americans listen?

Has President Obama's Department of Health and Human Services awakened a sleeping giant?

In pews across America, Catholics listened yesterday to letters from their bishops denouncing an HHS requirement that forces virtually every employer in America to pay for health insurance that covers contraception, sterilization, and abortifacients.

As Nancy Pelosi complained during the health care debate, many of her coreligionists have "this conscience thing" concerning the sanctity of human life. Now the executive branch of the federal government is telling them to drop dead.

>>> For now, a church doesn't have to buy condoms for monks or the pill for nuns. But religious schools, hospitals, and social service providers will have to comply with the regulation.

Oddly, the best way for religious leaders to follow their conscience without running afoul of the government is to not serve or employ people outside the faith. "Sectarian self-segregation is O.K., but good Samaritanism is not," observes the columnist Ross Douthat. "The rule suggests a preposterous scenario in which a Catholic hospital avoids paying for sterilizations and the morning-after pill by closing its doors to atheists and Muslims, and hanging out a sign saying 'no Protestants need apply.'"

The American Catholic bishops have pointed out that even Jesus and his disciples might not have qualified for the narrowly tailored religious exemption. >>>

Never mind that caring for the sick, feeding the poor, and clothing the naked are considered religious activities in many faiths. Forget that no one is forced to work for a Catholic hospital or Baptist college. Pay no attention to other ways such workers could affordably obtain these services if they so choose. Under the HHS regulation, the coverage is required even if the employee objects.

Religious communities in contemporary America are voluntary. No one is forced to attend or support any church, profess any doctrine or creed. Government, however, upholds community norms at gunpoint. MORE ...

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Catholics account for about 25% of the population in the US (except for the likes of fake Catholics like Piglosi, Lurch and the dead Kennedy). Nothing seems to change the Jewish vote, the black vote or the union vote. Perhaps the Catholic vote and the Hispanic vote are up for grabs now. Will some of them wake now, or will they continues to slumber?

I always found that comment of Pelosi's quite telling. She's saying that she doesn't have a conscience, and cannot even grasp the concept.

txradioguy

01-30-2012, 02:47 PM

I always found that comment of Pelosi's quite telling. She's saying that she doesn't have a conscience, and cannot even grasp the concept.

Communists don't believe in God. Their "higher power" is the Federal Government.

Lanie

01-30-2012, 03:11 PM

Now, a Catholic hospital will not solve all of their problems by denying services to non-Catholics because even Catholics want certain services. In fact, Catholics are worse for certain things than Protestants are. It's a statistic fact.

The way this healthcare is *supposed* to work is to allow people more room to obtain health insurance. It's not supposed to change the rules regarding hospitals.

And no, all Socialists are not atheists. :rolleyes:

txradioguy

01-30-2012, 03:36 PM

Now, a Catholic hospital will not solve all of their problems by denying services to non-Catholics because even Catholics want certain services. In fact, Catholics are worse for certain things than Protestants are. It's a statistic fact.

The way this healthcare is *supposed* to work is to allow people more room to obtain health insurance. It's not supposed to change the rules regarding hospitals.

I always found that comment of Pelosi's quite telling. She's saying that she doesn't have a conscience, and cannot even grasp the concept.
It doesn't surprise me with Pelosi. What does surprise me are the Catholics who supposedly adhere to the pro-life teachings of the church, but still support Obama.

I'm not a believer in single issue votes, but this issue is critical to the tenents of the Catholic Church.

noonwitch

01-30-2012, 05:23 PM

The opt out for religious hospitals should be clear, and they shouldn't be eliminated from the plan because they choose not to prescribe contraceptives or provide abortion services.

That said, I still think if we are going to have national health care, contraception coverage should be a part of it. It's part of most current insurance plans, even if there is a copay.

Odysseus

01-30-2012, 05:53 PM

Communists don't believe in God. Their "higher power" is the Federal Government.
No, their higher power is themselves. The whole point of communism is to eliminate anything that might prevent people from indulging their worst instincts.

The opt out for religious hospitals should be clear, and they shouldn't be eliminated from the plan because they choose not to prescribe contraceptives or provide abortion services.

That said, I still think if we are going to have national health care, contraception coverage should be a part of it. It's part of most current insurance plans, even if there is a copay.

Good point. That's another reason not to have national health care. In order to participate, you have to be willing to pay lip service to the agendas of our political elites, no matter how presonally repugnant you find those agendas.

MountainMan

01-31-2012, 01:15 AM

Now, a Catholic hospital will not solve all of their problems by denying services to non-Catholics because even Catholics want certain services. In fact, Catholics are worse for certain things than Protestants are. It's a statistic fact.

The way this healthcare is *supposed* to work is to allow people more room to obtain health insurance. It's not supposed to change the rules regarding hospitals.

And no, all Socialists are not atheists. :rolleyes:

Of course you have proof of this idiotic statement, correct?

AmPat

01-31-2012, 11:18 AM

The opt out for religious hospitals should be clear, and they shouldn't be eliminated from the plan because they choose not to prescribe contraceptives or provide abortion services.

That said, I still think if we are going to have national health care, contraception coverage should be a part of it. It's part of most current insurance plans, even if there is a copay.

Let's look into why ANYBODY or ANY organization would want to "Opt Out" of such an awesome government program at all. If this program is so awesome, why are so many people, the first of which were the bastards who shoved it down our throats in the dead of night, opting out? As a matter of fact, why are so many life-long, diehard liberal DimoRAT supporters like Unions, opting out of this awesome program?:mad: